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Celebrating the New Year? Read This Before You Head Out!

New Year 2023It’s that time of the year again! The Christmas bells ring and the New Year sweeps us yet again! For many, it sweeps with a lot booze & puke! And for many, this happens every week. So here it is guys, the gyaan of what you should and should not do this New Year (or even weekends for that matter).

I am a firm believer of ‘Health First’, be it New Years or Diwali. While the New Year comes once, the ‘dump’ you put inside it wrecks your system in and out. Trust me, if I was the body, I would hate New Years every year of my life!

Let’s Talk About Alcohol

The body can safely process around one unit of pure alcohol per hour. If you drink more than this, your body isn’t able to break it down fast enough and it accumulates in your body. It takes a lot of time to flush it out and the pressure on the liver and the body as a whole is immense.

Binge drinking increases the risk of blackouts, especially on an empty stomach. During this time, a person may do things that they do not remember later. So in case you are planning to drink, know your limits and of course listen to your body. Booze might be free but the body is priceless. Take a call on what you should prioritize. 

Our body is designed to ensure that the nutrients reach the organs. All the food goes through the liver which processes the food and passes it on. Same is the case with alcohol. The liver metabolizes the alcohol, but it can only break down so much at one time. What the liver can’t break down is redirected throughout the rest of the body.

Drugs

Please know that consuming, passing on or giving drugs is illegal. Consuming high quantities of drugs can lead to poisoning and eventual death. Worse, if one is addicted, it is extremely difficult to bounce back to normal. Drugs can leave one in semiconscious/ unconscious conditions leaving the person vulnerable to literally ‘anything’. So if you are partying, or are attending a rave, please be safe! Best, don’t attend!

Too Much of Anything

Be it food, drinks, dancing or loud music – anything in excess is bad for your system just as alcohol, smoking or drugs. Too loud music hits the eardrums. That buzz you get in your head after the loud music is your body telling you that it has had enough! 

Sex is beneficial and super for health, if done safely and with a known partner. So if you know you are going to get high, have a few friends who will protect you from the unwanted attention. Be safe. Else, just plan it with your partner!

Tips for a Happy, Healthy and Safe New Year

  1. In case of excess of alcohol consumption, the person might pass out or vomit. If you are in your senses, be with the person. Ensure they don’t choke on their vomit and that their breathing is normal. If not, rush to the hospital.
  2. If you are hell bent on drinking, ensure you do not have more than a peg in an hour. It will give your body enough time to process it.
  3. Listen to your body! If on any drink, you start feeling uncomfortable, or breathless, stop drinking immediately. Drink a lot of water which will help you flush out the drink. If you still feel uncomfortable, rush to the hospital
  4. If you have done all of what should NOT be done, ensure that you give your body some rest in the coming 2 days. Flush it out by drinking lots of fluids and eating salads. Detox it should be!
  5. Imagine a car loader which is overloaded with stuff. If one keeps overloading it, it will break down eventually. Compare this to your body and load it with only as much as it can take. If you do not know how much the body can take, consider the tips above.
  6. Hire a driver or take the car rentals if you’re going to get high.

I know I sound like an oldie here with no life but I am a firm believer of protecting and befriending the body. If a party has to happen, I personally suggest people to chill with friends at home and order from your favourite food joint. Apart from saving money, I end up playing board games, eating my favorite food, catching up with friends & family and ending with a good night meditation. But everyone is not me! If you are not, consider the tips above, and enjoy your party!

Wish you all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

#BeTheForce 

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Healthy Eating: Dates and Walnut Cake

Dates and Walnut Cake

It’s the season to be jolly and nothing is jollier than a freshly baked homemade cake! As we slowly step towards the New Year, it would be awesome to end 2022 on a healthy note. So let’s bake our own healthy and delicious eggless Dates and Walnut Cake! It’s a dense, rich cake which provides you with healthy fats and nutrition.

This is a recipe we’re sure your family will enjoy!

What You Will Need

  • Dates – 1 cup
  • Milk – 1 cup
  • Whole Wheat Flour – 1.5 cup
  • Roughly Chopped Walnuts – ½ cup
  • Coffee – ½ tsp
  • Cinnamon Powder – ½ tsp
  • Olive Oil – 100 ml
  • Baking powder – ½ tsp
  • Baking soda – 1 tsp
  • Salt – ½ tsp

How to Prepare 

  1. Soak coffee in a little water.
  2. Soak Dates in hot milk for 2-3 hours until they soften. Then grind the dates + milk into a fine paste in a mixer.
  3. Take the date paste out in a mixing bowl and add olive oil to it.
  4. Sieve the whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, coffee, cinnamon powder & salt and mix well with the dates puree using whisker.
  5. Now, add the chopped walnuts in the batter and gently fold them within. The cake batter is ready for further process.

From here on, there are two ways you can go. One with a Steamer and the other with an Oven.

a. Steamer

  1. Add a cup of salt in an idli steamer and place a plate or vessel in it and close the steamer.
  2. Preheat the steamer for 10 minutes at high flame.
  3. Transfer the cake batter in a properly greased pan and keep it inside the steamer.
  4. Cook the cake in the steamer at low – medium flame for 30-35 mins.

b. Oven

  1. Preheat the oven for 10 min.
  2. Transfer the cake batter in a greased mould and bake it for 35 to 40 min at 180 degree Celsius.
  3. Your cake is ready! 

Highlights of the Dates and Walnut Cake

  • Definitely, a cake with no unhealthy fats, giving you the satiety of eating a dessert.
  • Dates make it nourishing for the guests as it is packed with a host of heart-healthy nutrients.
  • Most importantly, it is absolutely yummy! 

Before you begin preparing this wholesome dates and walnuts cake, check with your doctor for any allergies you might have. For more tasty and healthy recipes, check out Healthy Reads or ask your GOQii Coach by subscribing for Personalised Health Coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

#BeTheForce 

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10 Resolutions You Can Make In 2023 For A Healthier YOU!

10 resolutions for a healthier youIt’s that time of the year when most people start to ponder over their New Year resolutions. Every year, millions of people make New Year resolutions but 80% fail to keep them going through the year. It’s hard to keep up the enthusiasm going month after month after you’ve set goals for yourself, but it’s definitely not impossible. Most of us strive for unrealistic goals that are difficult to accomplish after a while. This year, let’s be different! Pick one of the following worthy resolutions, and do your best to stick to it.

Top 10 New Year Resolutions For A Healthy You 

  1. Eat breakfast: A healthy breakfast refuels the body after a whole 10-12 hours of previous night’s dinner and gets the metabolism going. It helps one concentrate better throughout the day and increase productivity.
  2. Stress Less: Stress on a daily basis takes a toll on physical and mental health. No matter what the job is, day to day affairs can lead to a lot of stress. Pent up emotions can not only create feelings of distress and promote destructive behavior. So make a New Year resolution to de-stress yourself by getting adequate sleep, exercising, meditating and following your hobbies.
  3. Improve posture at work: Prolonged use of the computer, sitting at one place for hours together can cause muscle aches and discomfort. This routine on a daily basis, through years of work, can lead to permanent damage. Follow these steps to correct your posture at work. Don’t forget to take a break, or several one or two minute breaks every 20-30 minutes, and a five minute break every hour. This will ensure that you do not strain your muscles.
  4. Get an annual health check up: Scheduling an annual routine check up for all your family members is a thoughtful New Year gift. Discuss your general health related queries and need for undergoing some preventive screening tests.
  5. Get adequate and good quality sleep: I know it is difficult to keep your hands off your mobile devices at night but believe me, late night usage of gadgets is one of the main reasons for low quality and inadequate sleep. Make a New Year resolution to keep all electronic devices out of the room and pledge to sleep soundly for 7 hours at least.
  6. Practice mindful eating: Don’t make your body a garbage bin. Every time you put food in your mouth, ask yourself – “Is this healthy?” Mindless eating can lead to a lot of calorie consumption and can add up to an extra of 600 calories daily to your diet. The next time you are tempted by a dish, when you are not actually hungry, have a list of other healthy/nutritious substitutes to try instead. Divert yourself by drinking a green tea, taking a stroll, have a quick chat with a co-worker, or simply drink a glass of water!
  7. Avoid crash diets: Diets that promote large amounts of protein and fat, like low carb diets, might help you lose weight but the effects of these are short term. Finally, NO pain – NO gain is an ideal weight/fat loss plan which must include regular exercise in addition to a wholesome diet. Remember no crash diet can be substitute for a healthy diet.
  8. Cut back on carbonated beverages: Believe it or not, consumption of fizzy carbonated drinks is on a fall in the United States and surprisingly on the rise in the Middle East and Asia. It’s an alarming call for us to re-write our habits. Ditch the carbonated drinks this year and replace them with healthier options like fresh lime water, coconut water, chamomile tea, green tea and of course our desi Shikanji! Water is your best bet on any given day. For a little change, add up just enough juice to change the color along with an orange or a lime!
  9. Practice Deep Breathing everyday: After a tiring day, do you prefer lying on the couch and watching TV? But for good relaxation, what you need is a mentally active process which leaves the body calm and focused. Deep breathing is free and can be practiced anywhere. The key of course is focused breathing. Just 5-10 minutes of your day for deep breathing will reduce anxiety and reduce stress. Deep breathing increases the supply of blood to your brain and releases relaxing hormones, which promotes a state of calmness.
  10. Exercise Regularly:  The New Year is an amazing time to kick-start a new fitness plan – so as long as you create one you can stick with, you’ll be fine! Here’s how you can build a good workout plan. If you need guidance and motivation, subscribe for a GOQii PRO class within the GOQii App – where you’ll be guided by experts in real-time.

We hope these New Year resolutions help you get healthier! Do let us know which resolutions you’ve planned for 2023 in the comments below.

#BeTheForce

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6 Tips to Help You Form and Stick to Resolutions

form and stick to resolutions

How often do we wait till the end of the year to make “resolutions” and end up not sticking to them? If you were to review your year basis the resolutions you made at the start, how close are you to achieving that goal? Do you find it difficult to form and stick to resolutions? Well, don’t worry! That’s where we come in.

A lot of resolutions fail because they’re a tad bit unrealistic. A resolution may be wrong for one of three main reasons:

  • It’s a resolution created based on what someone else (or society) is telling you to change. 
  • It’s too vague.
  • You don’t have a realistic plan for achieving your resolution.

The key to form and stick to resolutions is planning a SMART one.

Points to Keep in Mind to Form & Stick to Resolutions

  1. Understanding Your Goals: At the end of the year, there is renewed optimism as there is high spirit among people to set new goals for the New Year. The achievable goals are those which are specific, measurable, relevant and time-bound (SMART). The first step to behavior change is to clearly understand what “it” is.
  2. Start Small: To do “something big or to do nothing” – this frame of mind rarely works when it comes to New Year’s resolutions. If you’ve never exercised before, it’s unlikely you will suddenly start working out for an hour every single day. Instead, start with small and attainable goals, such as going to the gym three days a week or short daily walks. Once this becomes a habit, you can tack-on larger goals.
  3. Make One Change at a Time: Setting multiple resolutions at a time will not give desired results, thus we should go at a steady pace.
  4. Make a Monetary Commitment: Financial incentives plays an important role to stick to the resolutions, either you get a reward for fulfilling your commitments or you pay from your own pocket for not following it and see others enjoying their rewards.
  5. Keep a Log: A daily activity log should be maintained and updated to track progress. This is one of the easiest and effective ways to make your resolutions stick. The more we monitor our performance, the more likely we are to achieving the goals.
  6. Have Patience: We must set realistic goals and realize that progress is never uni-directional. Some people see rapid gains in the beginning and hit resistance at a later stage. For others, initial progress may be painfully slow, but then they suddenly achieve rapid breakthroughs. Making lasting changes takes time. Thus patience is the “key to success”.

A Resolution is a promise a person makes. Regardless of what resolution you commit to, the goal is to improve life in the coming year. We hope the above suggestions help you form and stick to resolutions! To help you stay motivated and on track with the right guidance from certified experts, subscribe to GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

#BeTheForce 

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